Electric lantern



April 28, 1925. I T. MEE, JR

ELECTRIC LANTERN Filed Oct. 15, 1925 Patented Apr. 28, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,535,845 PATENT 1,0FFICE...

THOMAS MEE, JR., 0]? CLINTON, ILLINOIS.

ELECTRIC LANTERN.

Application filed October 15, 1923. Serial No. 668,561.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THoMAs MEE, J12, a citizen ofthe United States, and resident of Clinton, De lVitt County, Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Electric Lanterns,j of whlch the following is a specificatlon.

This invention relates to electric lanterns of that kind in which the battery is on closed in a can-shaped body, with the electric light bulb on the lower end thereof,

. and which is provided with a handle by which it can-be carried, like an ordinary lantern, and wlth a skeleton base by which it is suported whenplaced on the ground or a table or other place.

Generally stated, the object of the invention isto provide a novel construction and arrangement whereby it does not matter whether the battery is inserted in any particular manner, whereby either end of the battery can be inserted first, thus precluding any trouble or difficulty in this respect; whereby the circuit controlling switch is advantageously placed on the topor cover of thelantern; whereby the handle of the lantern is advantageously swiveled on simple s'tovebo lts which can be tightened to hold the handle against swinging movement; and whereby certain other advantages are obtained, as will hereinafter more fully appear. a i

To the foregoing and other useful ends the invention consists inmatters hereinafter set forth and claimed and shown in the ac com-panying drawings in which Figure 1 is avertical section of an electric lantern embodying the princlples of the invention.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the bottom or lower side of the cover,show1ng cert-am parts removed.

Figure 3 is a detail view showing the two sections of insulation which are desirably included in the switch construction.

Figure 4 is a bottom view of a portion of the means carried by the cover to contact with the-top of-the battery.

Figure is either atop or bottom view of said battery. Figure 6 is a detail view of a portion of the switch construction.

Figure 7 is a detail View of a portion of the switch construction.

As thus illustrated, the invention comprises a can-shaped body 1 of metal or any other suitable material, but preferably of metal, inasmuch asthe circuit of the electric lamp bulb 2, and of the battery3, preferably lncludes said body. Said can-shaped ,body has a downwardly bulging bottom it that serves as a convex reflector, andhas a This portion 7 is integral with the upper flat portion 7 which is provided with a metal spring 9 to engage the bottom contact'of the battery.- The cover 10 is hinged at llto the top of the body, and is providedon its top with a sliding metal switch member 12, the

riyets 13 of which extend through slots .14 in the cover. To the lower ends of these rlvets 13 a metal strip 141 is secured, having a slot 15 in the center thereof. 7 Afiber strip 1 16, however, is interposed between the strip 141 and the cover. By sliding the outside 2 switch handle 12 back and forth, the strip 141 will move back and forth or reciprocate.

Sections, of fiber 17 are securedto the lower surface of the cover, with space 18 between them, and it will be seen that the strips 141 and 16 slide or reciprocate in this space. The metal disk 19 is secured to the strip 17 of insulation, so that this disk is insulated from the cover. A pin 20 is inserted upper end formed with a head disposed in the'slot' 15, so that the strip 141 of metal can be moved into. and out of engagement with this head or portion of the pin 20, thereby to close or open the circuit. A

, metal spring 21 is fastened to the bottom of the plate or disk 19 to engage the other tern1inal of the battery at the top of the latter.

through the center of the disk 19 and has its Thus when the strip 141 engages the pin 20 the circuit is closed from thebattery through the lamp, through the reflector 4 and through the sides of the body 1, through the cover 10 tothe other pole of tlie battery.

A handle 22 curves up and over the lantern body, being bale-shaped, and has its lower ends secured to the sides of the body 1 bystove bolts 23 and thumb nuts 24 screwed upon said bolts to clamp the end portions of the handle 22, which latter is springy, in

isarrangement of the parts.

place on the squared portions 25 of said bolts, the latter being inserted outwardly through square holes in the sides of the body 1, so that said bolts cannot rotate. When the nuts 24 are loosened, the end portions 26 of the handle can be sprung out of engagement with the squared portions 25, and the handle can then be swung down for convenience or otherwise.

The bottom of :the lantern is provided with a skeleton frame 27, of wire or other suitable material, which forms a guard for the lamp bulb, and which forms a base by which the lantern is supported when placed on the ground or table or elsewhere.

To eliminate the difiiculty and trouble which results more or less when a battery must be inserted in a certain way, in an electrio lantern, the battery shown ant described is so constructed that either end can be inserted downward in the body 1, for the two ends of the battery are alike, and the consequence is that the user does not have to be careful to see which end of the battery is inserted downward when a new battery is placed in the lantern. For this purpose, therefore, the battery comprises, preferably, the four cells 28, as indicated in Figure 5, enclosed by paper or other suitable casing 29, so that they are held tightly together. The tour cells are connected in series in any suitable or desired manner, as by wiring or otherwise. A disk of metal 30 is placed at top and bottom of the battery, or at both ends thereof. The disk 30 at one end is connected with the negative pole of the battery thus composed of four cells in series, while the plate 30 at the other end of the battery is connected to the positive pole of .the battery. In other words, one plate 30 is connected to the zinc of the cell at one end of the series, and the other plate is connected to the carbon of the cell of the other end of the series, whereby these two plates 30 represent the positive and negative poles of the battery as a whole. The battery can be inserted either right side up or right side down, so to speak so that the positive pole will be at the top or at the bottom, for it makes no difference which way the battery is inserted. In any event, the spring 9 will contact with the plate 80 at the lower end of the battery, and the spring 21 will contact with the plate 30 at the top of the battery, and thus the battery is cushioned at top and bottom, and it will be seen that the rounded corners of the battery engage the inner surface of the body 1,

as indicated in Figure 5, thus keeping the battery from rattling around. hen the lantern is carried, or when it is suddenly placed on the ground or a table, the springs cushion the battery and prevent breakage or It will be seen that the flat top and bot-tom walls of the casing 29 have holes 31 therein to expose a portion of the surface of the plates 30, and inasmuch as these two holes are axially alined, it follows that either pole piece of the battery is in position to engage the spring 9, and either pole piece is likewise in position to engage the pole piece 21, whereby it makes no difi'erence which way the battery is inserted.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In an electric lantern, a metal body, a lamp socket -tor the bottom of said body, a battery in said body, a cover for the top of said body, a switch on said cover, said switch comprising contacts which engage and disengage each other to close and open the circuit of the lamp, whereby the entire switch is carried by the cover, means to connect one terminal of the lamp with the bottom of said battery, and means to connect said switch with the top of said battery, the other terminal of the lamp being in contact with the bottom of said body, said body being of metal, whereby operation of said switch will open or close the lamp circuit through said battery and including said body.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, said means for making contact with the upper and lower ends of the battery comprising springs which cushion the upper and lower ends of the battery in the lantern and which are included in said circuit.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, said switch comprising a slide on top of said cover, andcomprising means under the cover and operable by said slide to open and close, the circuit at a point between said slide and the said means for making contact with the top of the battery.

4:. A structure as specified in claim 1, said means for making contact with the bottom of the battery comprising a false bot tom of insulating material having a spring thereon to support the battery, said spring forming a part of said circuit.

5. In an electric lantern the combination of a battery, a body, bolts inserted outwarda ly through polygonal holes in the sides of said body, said bolts having polygonal portions to fit said holes, a bale-shaped han dle having polygonal openings to receive said polygonal portions of said bolts, so that the handle will be locked against movement, and nuts on said bolts to hold said handle in engagement with said polygonal portions of the bolts, which nuts are adjustable to permit disengagement of the handle from said polygonal portions, when the ends of the handle spring outward, thereby to permit the handle to swing about the axis tormed by said bolts.

6. In an electric lantern, a hollow body," an electric lamp bulb at one end of said body, means to afford access to the other end of said body, a multiple cell battery insertable in said body, saidbattery having the cells thereof arranged side by side with their ends flush, having a positive pole piece at one end of the battery, and having its negative pole piece at the opposite end, means at one end of said body adapted to engage either one of the pole pieces of the multiple cell battery, and means at the other end to engage either pole piece of the battery, whereby the battery can be inserted either way.

7A structure as specified in claim 6, said pole pieces comprising fiat metal plates facing in opposite directions and of similar character.

8. A structure as specified in claim 6, said battery comprising a casing around said cells, said casing having a hole at each end thereof, the two holes being axially alined, and said pole pieces comprising fiat metal plates having portions of their surfaces exposed by said holes.

9.In combination with an electric device, comprising a hollow body to receive a battery, with means for completing a circuit through said battery, a translating device, amultiple cell battery insertable endwise in said body, either end first, said battery having the cells thereof arranged side by side with their ends flush, and means to contact with the poles of the battery to complete the circuit for said translating device, regardless of whether the battery is inserted one way or the other.

10. As an article of manufacture, a multiple cell battery having sides and ends, said battery having the cells thereof arranged side by side with their ends flush, and having a positive pole piece on the other end, the two pole pieces being similarly located on the two ends of the battery, whereby the batterycan be turned end for end or used either way for including it in a circuit, in combination with means to engage said pole pieces to include said battery in a circuit, said battery being reversible end for end in said circuit.

11. ,A structure as specified in claim 10, said battery comprising a casing around said cells, the end walls of the casing each having a central opening, and said pole pieces comprising metal plates held within said casing and each having a portion of its surface exposed by one of said holes, so that the two pole pieces are axially alined and are similar in character.

12. In anelectric lantern, a metal body, a lamp socket for the bottom of said body, a battery in said body, a cover for the top of said body, a switch on said cover, means to connect one terminal of the lamp with the bottom of said battery, and means to connect said switch. with the top ofsaid battery, the other terminal of the lamp being in contact with the bottom of said body, said body being of metal, whereby operation of said switch will open or close the lamp circuit through said battery and including said body, said switch comprising a slide on top of said cover, and comprising means under the cover and operable by said slide to open and close the circuit at a point between said slide and the said means for making contact with the top of the battery.

13. In an electric lantern, a metal body, a lamp socket for the bottom of said body,a, battery in said body, a cover for the top of said body, a switch on said cover, means to connect one terminal of the lamp with the bottom of said battery, and means to connect said switch with the top of said battery, the other terminal of the lamp being in contact with the bottom of said body, said body being of metal, whereby operation of said switch will open or close the lamp circuit through said battery and including said body, said means for making contact with the bottom of the battery comprising a false bottom of insulating material having a spring thereon to support the battery, said spring forming a part of said circuit.

14:. In an electric lantern, a hollow body, an 7 electric lamp bulb at one end of said body, means to afford access to the other end of said body, a battery insertable in said body, said battery having a positive pole piece at one end, and having its negative pole piece at the opposite end, and means at one end of said body adapted to engage either one of the pole pieces of the battery, and means at the other end to engage either pole piece of the battery, whereby the battery can be inserted either way, said pole pieces comprising fiat metal plates facing in opposite directions and of similar character.

15. I11 an electric lantern, ahollow body, an electric lamp bulb at one end of said body, means to aiford access to the other end of said body, a battery insertable in said body, said battery having a positive pole piece at one end, and having its negative pole piece at the opposite end, and means at one end of said body adapted to engage either one of the pole pieces of the battery,

'of, the two holes being axially alined, and

said pole pieces comprising flat metal plates having portions of their surfaces exposed by said holes.

THOMAS MEE, JR. 

